Henrik af Trolle

Henrik af Trolle
H. af Trolle
Allegiance	Schweden
Rank	Admiral

Henrik af Trolle (born 24 November 1730, dead 12 March 1784 in Stockholm) was a Swedish Admiral and commander of the Swedish Archipelago Fleet. He was ennobled in 1772. He is considered to be one of the foremost adminstrators and developers of the Swedish Navy throughout the ages (together with Claes Larsson Fleming and Hans Wachtmeister).

History

Henrik Trolle was born in 1730 to the Danish Admiral Georg Herman von Trolle, who had entered Swedish service, and Anna Margareta Grill. At age ten his father signed him up to the navy and he sailed the seas for thirteen years while advancing to second mate rank. During one adventurous journey outside South America they encountered four Spanish vessels and fought a four hour-long battle, which ended with the entire Swedish crew being captured and imprisoned, Henrik included. He was released after four months.

Upon his return to Sweden a year later (1754) he was given the rank of chief mate and rose to captain lieutenant in 1758. He participated in the Seven Year War at the siege of Peenemünde and at a battle that took place at the Prussian sconce Anklamer-Fehr. There he served as a captain on one of the larger galleys ‘’Carlskrona’’ and managed to chase away two Prussian galleys. In 1759 he organized the troop transfer of the Swedish Army to Rügen and served as an aide-de-camp to Count Axel Fersen who was commander of the Swedish army. The same year he also participated in the victorious battle at Frisches Haff. He was given command of the naval and army units that guarded the waters around the islands of Usedom and Wollin. He rose quickly through the ranks and became a Major in 1762, the last year of Swedish participation in the Seven Years War. In 1766, after years that had seen the Swedish Navy being reduced, he travelled by own expense to Brest, Flanders and Amsterdam, where he witnessed new ship building and fortress construction techniques. In 1769 he married Carolina Carleson, who was daughter to the politician Edvard Carleson.

In 1770, he was given a high position at the newly re-established Archipelago Fleet. He became Augustin Ehrensvärd's right hand man and together they supervised the expansion, administration and training of the fleet. As a reward for his support in the royal revolution of 1772, he was given command of the archipelago fleet and was ennobled, thus being allowed to attach the prefix af to his family name. During the following years, Trolle fought many heated battles with traditionalist navalists who were against the very existence of a naval unit under army command. af Trolle and the naval architect Fredrik Henrik af Chapman had both come to the conclusion that small, fast and maneuverable vessels with 60-70 guns were of more use than big, slow, depth-craving ships with 100 guns. With the help of some powerful friends he managed to aide af Chapman become chief naval architect further developing and renewing the army fleet according to their visions.

While remaining a naval army officer he then went on to command the Nyland Infantry Regiment and the Swedish squadron of the Archipelago Fleet. In June 1780 he was appointed the rank of General Admiral. He died in Stockholm on 12 March 1784.

References

• Svenskt Biografiskt Handlexikon, 1906